…Forest School

We are very fortunate to have a fantastic woodland setting within our school grounds which we use for Forest School. These sessions with Years 1, 3 and 5 take the children’s learning outdoors and incorporate: literacy, maths, science, art, history, geography, personal and social education, design and technology, physical education and the Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship.

Some of the activities which will take place are:

Nature Detectives

tree/leaf identification

‘knock on wood’

trails,

flora/fauna identification

tree instruments

footprints,

circle time

blindfold trails

mini – beasts

stories

mini-shelters

puzzle trails

drama

meet a tree

homes

‘The Whispering Tree’

tool making

webs

masks

log-circle rules

sound maps

seed collecting and dispersal

camp-fire activities

puppets

estimating distances

roasting marshmallows

jewellery

model making

knots

camouflage

woodland crowns

songs

weaving

Forest School diaries

Within Forest School children are given the time, freedom and space to explore and discover within the woodland whilst undertaking planned, structured and well supervised activities. Forest School fosters a ‘can do’ ethos and provides a flexible approach which allows for individuality. There are many positive effects of Forest School, for example, increasing the children’s confidence, promoting team work, developing speaking and listening skills. Forest School also teaches the children to be more environmentally aware, developing an understanding of how the natural world actually works and how important their role is in looking after it.

Year Four’s interpretation of Mother Nature.

Year 6 Den Building.

http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk is a fantastic website full of great ideas and downloads.